British Gas owner Centrica to look abroad for energy

THE rising cost of producing oil and gas in the UK North Sea is forcing Centrica to seek future energy supplies elsewhere.

PUBLISHED: 00:01, Fri, Feb 21, 2014

Centrica are looking abroad for gas supply as the North Sea near the UK is running out [PA]

It is focusing investment on its operations in the Norwegian North Sea and Canada alongside supply deals with the Qataris and US shale gas producers.

Finance director Nick Luff said: “The UK North Sea is becoming more challenging as it runs out of gas and it becomes more difficult to get to what is left.

“Centrica is having to ‘internationalise’ where it looks for gas.”

The UK North Sea is becoming more challenging as it runs out of gas and it becomes more difficult to get to what is left

Finance director Nick Luff

Profits from its so-called international upstream business, which takes in exploration and production, rose 6 per cent to £1.3billion in 2013, helping offset lower profits at its British Gas arm, down 6 per cent to just over £1billion.

Within the upstream business higher profits from production offset a big drop in profits from its gas-fired power stations and a drop in profits from its renewable energy operations.

Group pre-tax profits fell from £2.4billion to £1.6billion, after £626million of one-off costs, on revenues up from £23.9billion to £26.5billion.

Shareholders see their full-year dividend increase by 4 per cent to 17p a share. The shares rose 6½p to 320½p.